Forex reserves fall $5.01 bn to $588.31 bn

The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $5.01 billion to $588.31 billion in the week ended July 1, according to RBI data released on Friday.

In the previous week ended June 24, the reserves had increased by $2.73 billion to $593.32 billion.

During the reporting week ended July 1, the fall in the foreign exchange reserves was due to a dip in Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), a major component of the overall reserves, and also in the gold reserves.

FCA decreased by $4.471 billion to $524.74 billion in the week ended July 1, as per the Weekly Statistical Supplement, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

Expressed in dollar terms, FCA includes the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

The gold reserves fell by $504 million to $40.42 billion in the reporting week.

In the reporting week ended July 1, the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dropped by $77 million to $18.13 billion, RBI said.

The country's reserve position with the IMF rose by $44 million to $5.01 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.

Earlier this week, RBI had announced a slew of measures to enhance forex inflows to boost the rupee which has been declining against the US dollar.